Question

Read this passage:

Kittens in Kubes is the latest and greatest idea to cheer up office workers in their stale and lonely jobs. Now they'll be able to enjoy a one-hour visit from a kitten from the local humane society. Volunteers will bring kittens to offices every Friday, office workers can find a furry friend to take back to their cube for a visit, or just take some time to tickle some whiskers before heading back to their spreadsheets. The Humane Society hopes that this Kittens in Kubes initiative will not only bring a ray of sunshine to the lives of office workers - it might also encourage people to adopt the cats and give them new homes.
Which statement best describes the logical fallacy used in this passage?
A. The author uses a hasty generalization by assuming that office workers are depressed and need kittens.
B. The author uses circular reasoning to justify the assumption that people would want to adopt kittens.
C. The author uses a non sequitur by concluding that someone would want to adopt a kitten after petting it.
D. The author displays a lack of logic by failing to provide statistics about the overall happiness of office workers.

Answer 1

The passage contains a non sequitur fallacy, implying petting kittens leads directly to their adoption without logical basis for that conclusion.

Step-by-step explanation:

The logical fallacy presented in the passage is non sequitur. The passage implies that petting a kitten will lead to the adoption of a cat, without providing a logical reason for how the initial action leads to the final decision. The fallacy is one where the conclusion doesn't logically follow from the premises. In this case, petting a kitten doesn't necessarily lead to cat adoption, so the claim is a non sequitur. The statement identified as the correct one is C. Statements A and B are not supported because the author doesn't make a generalization about all office workers being depressed, nor does the author use circular reasoning. Statement D is also incorrect since a lack of statistical data about office workers' happiness is not the primary issue with the passage's argument.